Condensing arrangement of rectifying apparatus



'June 16, 1925. l 1,541,912

1 n E. A. BARBl-:T

QONDENSING ARRNGEMENT OF RECTIFYING APPARATUS led Feb. 2, 1920 igl.

Ehi

nllutenteii .inne i6, i925.

EMILE AUGUSTEN BARRET, F PARS, Fll'LiiN'lE.

NEENSING ARRANGEMENT OE' BEUTI PAEMM.

Application filed February 2, 1920. Serial No 355,546.

.To @ZZ willow, v'z may concern:

Be it known that I, EMiLn Anons'rin lllennnr., a, citizen ot the French Republic,

residing' at No. .'i Rue de LEchelle, Paris, France, have invented certain new and usctul -improvenxents in the Condensing Arrangements of ltectifying Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

rilhe present inventor is the author of e theory which ivas published hy hini a nurnher ot' years ago. llccording to which, in rectilicrs in alcolici and all other liquids, the condenser is considered not to he the seat oi. the refining operation, or if so, only to a comparatively negligible extent; purification being considered to take place practically entirely in the plates of the refining` column, provided they are fed abundantly by the reflux of the Condenser, which arts' as a re tiningr liquor.

Notwithstanding the clear prooic el the ehoie theory, rcetifying apparatus have re inained up to the present provided as loe- :lore with a condenser and e cooler, whereas it would seem to he sufficient that they should' comprise a ysingle device serving to eil'ect hoth condensation and cooling since no api'neeiahle purification can loe expected on the part ot the condenser.

'llhe obstacle to the adoption of this siniplil'iod arrangement. has been that, in this raso, the reflux of the single tubular ap- ]'iaratus is quite cold and on entering into the top oi the rectifier, it would produce a rapid condensation oil the ascending vapours, und consequently a relative vacuum ivhich would prevent the reflux from ilesrondine successively into the lower plates.

lint this eileet heconies desirable applied lo recti'fying apparatus provided with coolineF plates as described in.the specificationol lictters latent No. 157,578 filed on. 26th ,lll:i.reli,l.l17, non' Patent No. 1,328,259.

lt ie known Huit/the partial condensation ol' a high degree alcoholic vapour upon a eool nurture does not effect any analysis ol' thiI vapour :nul consequently no appreciable puriiiraliou ol this vapour is produced, but distillation, and especially distillation by bubbling, has, contrary to surface col'ldensition, an analyzing power, `that is to say, a very elieetivo relininnr power.

llniler these, conditions the condensation nl' vapour which takes place within the liquid has the, result oi ellectingf distillation calorie for calorie.

ln order to obtain the above resuits in actual practice, a certain number of plates ot the rectifier are provided with "worms :tor cooling the liquid thereon in order thet the vapours .shall loubble up through. this liquid which is not quite as hot as the vapours.

The present inventor has previously caused water to ilow through said Worms, but the use oi Water is liable to conse in# eruslation ol the tubes due to the deposit ot limo and other iin''iurities in the water, and this incrustation has to he removed lroni time to time.

One object of the present invention is to prevent such inconveniences and at the same time secure a reflux Which is heated to e suitable temperature.

A "further object ofthe invention is to avoid the deposition el? toerusting metter :troni the cooling water in, the device oper w ating' as condenser and cooler.

According; to the present invention, a con-- neetion is provided between the device and the cooling' worms adapted to cause the corn densatc to pass through the cooling worms,

Athereliy cooling the liquid thereon end itsell becoming heated and ineens are provided for returning; the heated condensate io the top of the rectifier as; reliure liquid.

ln order to prevent the deposition of' inm trusting matter in the device performing' the function ol' condenser and cooler according to the invention, means are provided Wherehy Water is i'ed to this device in suliicient quantity to ensure that the water will out with a temperature lower than that et which the incrustetione ere formed, irrespeetively ot Vthe temperature of the .suhstanee to he condensed.

In order that the invention may he clearly understood reference nitty he hed to the aceomiliaiiying` drawings, in 'which Figure l shows in elevation part ot e. rectitying apparatus arranged `for carrjifing out the invention, and

l `iggurc 2 shows a. inodilied arrangement ol' the apparatus, the condenser, however, being' omitted. Y

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View oli e portion oi a rectiiying column with certain parte arranged slightly different from the lorln shown in Fig.

lligg, l is i horizontal sectional View of the parts shown in Fig. 3.

As shown in Figure l, the condenser li ot the tuhuier type, that is, one in Winch the medium to be cooled circulates around tubes arranged in the condenser, the cooling medium ilowing throughv said tubes. rlhe cold reflux from B is caused to flow through the Worms of the plates so as to he heated thereby before returning to the plate of the rectifier A. The ipe lll serves as the collector for the descendingr cold alcohol, and the pipe N serves the collector tor the ascending heated alcohol. a

A pipe d serves for drawingr ofl the rec-y tilied alcohol for conveyance to the outlet test device D, the amount thus drawn liti' being regulated by means of the cock E located at the entrance of the test device l). The whole of the remainder returns to the rectifier' and constitutes the reflux thereof.

The condenser' B must serve both as condenser and as a cooler and must he regulated in such a manner that the lower part of the apparatus shall always be cold. F or this purpose, perforated diaphragms are ai ranged within the condenser casing, this construction reducing the amount of space -through which the medium to be londensed must circulate, and if necessary also an automatic regulation is provided by inserting a thermo-regulator T whose expansion has the result of operating the throttle P located in the cold water inlet pipe, and thus controllinpr the admission o'l Water into the tubes of the condenser E.

The use of a single apparatus for both condensing and cooling has another great advantage, namely, that there is no longer any fear of sending an excess of water into the condenser B. In fact if there is sufficient water available, a copious admission of water may be employed so that the water will pass out of the upper outlet pipe lll at -a temperature that is lower than that at which deposits of lime and other impurities begins to form in the tubes of the condenser.

n this manner daily (leanings of the bores of the tubes of the condenser which is necessary at present owingr to the fact that the Water passes out of the condensers at a temperature of about Z3/75O C. can be dispensed with.

This last advantage will be still more evident in those cases' where rectification of substances having a boiling point above o C. is effected, such as for instance et toluol, Xylol, petroleum, ele. ln the present day rectifiers of these substances the water boils inthe tubes of the' condenser and 'thus causes still more rapid formingn oi deposits Which it is absolutely necessary to remove. -With the improved arrangement deposits Will no longer be formed since there is no objection to employing a copious admission of water. f

However, in the case of the substances above mentioned 'the utility or' cooling plates would sometimes disappear owing to the fact that inercia the stages of the temperatures ot rectification are more sharply defined than in flic case of alcolici. A cold reflux may conscquently be lic-@fed in a single tubular condenser J loc at the upper part 'of' the rectifier A. ihis tubular apparatus cou|- prises a compartment filled with lulus warmed by the passage of the vapours risI- ingr through the cold refluxY being: brought into contact with these tubes is slightly warme(l thereby. The arruiufcnicnt will uct as a pre-cooler without producing the above slated effects ot' vacuum. This iinprorcd arrangement is illustrated in Fig. 2 in which however the condcnscr All is not shown.

Figs. fl und 4 show one of the pluies A? of the reclifyiiin column with one of' the coolinga coils J. In these figures the pipes lli and N are both arranged on the same side ot the rectil'ying column instead of on opposite sides, in Fig. l.

The improved method cannot be applied with the present-day duality of the condenser and the cooler because the excess ot water would prevent the cooler from receivingr the slightest amount of steam and consequently the necessary issue of alcohol would be done away with.

ln the l`ore, oin,ea description the application ol the invention to rectifier-s of' known design only 'oit the discontinuous or continuous type has been dealt with.

.ln applying the invention to a continuous rectifier `with pasteur-ization, the non-'pastcurized alcohol will pass out through the pipe d and the test device D. But, as is usual in this process, the liquid alcohol. known as pasteurized alcohol 7 must be tulceu from one of the upper plates olt the rectifier, and a refrigerating device must be provided for this alcohol as well as a special test device for regulating its exit. This accessory apparatus 'which is Well known is not shown in the drawings.

Pasteur-ization consists in effecting,r ,the final rectificatienv ot a liquid, not by means of a condenser, but on certain et the plates ol the rectification column, and is obtained by returning' to those plates a reflux ofl the coiulcnscd vapours el' the liquid, which conn densate may contain sonic impurities. The vapours ofl the liquid being; rectified and the vapours of other volatile fractions risinfY through the rectification column huhhle through the reflux driviiupr oll' the iinlnuities therefrom and enabling' the pure liquid to be drawn of? from a point a few plates below the point oi: introduction of the reflux.

l. ln 'combination with a rectifying column, a tubular condensing; and coolingI apparatus, means for withdrawing' a portion of the cooled condensate from said apparatus elements in contact with the liquid lil.

lll)

lll() iti mii-1,912

within the column, moans for leading the renmintler or the cooled condensate from said apparatus to said elelnonts, and moons for feeding said condensato after passage through said oloinonts to the head of the roc'- ti'fyingr oolumn.,

2. ln combination with, u reotifyingr column having plates, o, tubular condensing and cooling apparatus, moons for withdro, ing; a portion of the cooled condensate from said apparatus, coils arranged on the platos of tho reotifying column, moans for leading tho remaindorof the cooled condensate from said appara-tus to said coils, and means for feeding said condensate after passoire through said coils to the hood of tho rectit'ying: rolumn. i

3. In `combinotion with a :notifying column having plot/es, s single tubulin' condensing and cooling apparatus, means for circulating therethrough waiter at u temporaturovbolow that at rwhich incrustotions are formed, moons for iofithdrowing a. portion of tho Cooled rondenszito from sind apparatus, Coils arranged on tho pleitos ot the roctiiyingn column, moons for loading tho remainder of the cooled condensato from said apparatus to Said coils, and means for feeding said condensato after passano through said coils to the hood ot' the roctiiying l'oluinn.

4. n combination with :t rectityingi;

, column having platos, a singlo tubular con "donsing and cooling: apparatus, moans-for witlnlruwing a portion of' the cooled oon- (iensato from said apparatus, ii voi-tical houder, :i pipe leading the remainder of tho oolvd vondonsato to said vorticul hou-der, coils ilmnorsod in tho liquid' on tho platos of tho rootifiornnd connected at ono ond to sniil houder,` :L souolulhoiulo.' oonnovtoil `to said oils :unl a, pipo connecting Suid houdor lo tho head of the rootitying column.

ln testimony whereof l have signed my naine to this specification',

EMlLE AUGUSTIN BARBER 

